[...] Episode #4 has been posted! Wherein: This week, Chris King and Henrik Fåhraeus from Paradox Interactive join Jon and Dirk to discuss storytelling in games, with a particular focus on how this is done in Crusader Kings 2. We also talk a bit about the upcoming Europa Universalis 4, and our guests answer the burning question that’s been eating away at everyone for years: why were tech teams removed from Hearts of Iron 3? [...]

These were my favorite guests so far, mostly because I’m familiar with the games/franchises that they worked on. It was interesting to get some candid discussion about fans and DLC from them, and some talk about the upcoming EU4. And the topic was a good fit for them–I was sure After Action Reports would be mentioned, and I was right. But they were only mentioned in passing, and in fact I was left with the impression that there really wasn’t much of substance said about storytelling at all. That’s why I say it was mixed. It was disappointing to have a great guest/topic combo and then not actually get much meaty discussion of the topic.

If you guys aren’t already doing this, you may want to let your guests know the topic at least a few days in advance so they can have some specific thoughts ready to share. Obviously they’re not going to be giving a formal speech or talk, but just having it in mind for a bit may help focus that section a bit more.

That brings to mind another thought–it would be cool to see a list of guests and/or topics somewhat in advance. Or possibly just quick posts announcing that ‘Person X has agreed to be a guest in the next Y weeks’ or the like.